Puddleglum Music

This show, part of Come and Live‘s Arrows are Deadly missional tour, was much different than most of the shows I go to.  Instead of taking place at a bar, club, or other performance space, this (free) show was at Metanoya Church (Facebook, Twitter), just north of downtown San Antonio.  As such, the show was much more ministry focused; a large group of the people there were part of a street team that ministers to this area of San Antonio.  Their enthusiasm was amazing, as you can see in this video during White Collar Sideshow’s sound check:

First up was Levi the Poet (Twitter).  Jen and I thought this might be a band we hadn’t heard of, but instead Levi is actually a poet.  His performance was passionate, and his poetry touched on the reality of living by faith in a faithless world.

Next was White Collar Sideshow (Myspace, Twitter).  Their ministry focuses on the problems of addiction (especially porn addiction) and the impact that has upon the family.  T.D. Benton, the creator and frontman of WCS, explained how the idea came from his own personal experience.  Their music is very percussion heavy, with Benton and The Pig on drums, and The Faceless Woman (played by Benton’s wife) on bass.  At this show they also had two people in gas masks, one playing keyboard and the other (the Bentons’ son) on steel barrel.  Each song was accompanied by short videos that illustrate the message.

After WCS, The Ember Days performed an ambient worship set.  Their music is very contemplative and relaxing.  If the whole show were viewed as a normal Sunday-morning service, The Ember Days provided the worship set after the message, and I think that is kind of a neat idea.

Between Showbread and the Ember Days, Chad Johnson (founder of Come and Live) shared about the ministry and also prayed with the crowd.  I would really suggest that if you’re at all interested, check out Come and Live’s website.  They have free music (including WCS, The Ember Days, and Showbread) for download (and these are full EPs and albums, not just single tracks), and their ministry is based on a real-world, inclusive message rather than the insular, ignore-the-world type message of many churches.

Finally, Showbread performed an amazing set that included material from all of their albums.  Their performance of “Dead by Dawn” was incredible, and I continue to be impressed by these guys as their music grows